Span (length)

A span is the distance measured by a human hand, from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger. In ancient times, a span was considered to be half a cubit. Sometimes the distinction is made between the great span (thumb to little finger) and little span (index finger to little finger).

Ancient Greek texts show that the span was used as a fixed measure in ancient Greece since at least archaic period. The word spithame (Greek: "σπιθαμή"), "span", is attested in the work of Herodotus in the 5th century BC; however, the span was used in Greece long before that, since the word trispithamos (Greek: "τρισπίθαμος"), "three spans long", occurs as early as the 8th century BC in Hesiod.

See also: English unit

In Arabic, the analogue of the great span is the šibr (شبر). It is used in Modern Standard Arabic and classical Arabic, as well as in modern-day dialects.

In Slavic languages, the analogue of the span is various words derived from Proto-Slavic *pędь (Bulgarian педя, Polish piędź, Russian пядь, Slovenian ped, etc.). In various Slavic languages it is the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger or index finger. For example, Slovenian velika ped = great span (23 cm), mala ped = little span (9.5 cm); Russian piad = 4 vershoks = 17.8 cm. See Obsolete Russian weights and measures.

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